Labour Rights in Export Processing Zones with a Focus on GSP+ Beneficiary Countries

Labour Rights in Export Processing Zones with a Focus on GSP+ Beneficiary Countries PDF Author: Benjamin Richardson
Publisher:
ISBN: 9789284612383
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 66

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Book Description
The European Union’s GSP+ scheme provides trade concessions to beneficiary countries and obliges them to ratify and effectively implement key international conventions on human rights and labour rights. The sectoral gains of GSP+ have thus far been concentrated on exports of apparel, textiles and processed fish. Such sectors are often located in Export Processing Zones (EPZs) where the governance of labour rights may differ from the rest of the country and fall below international legal standards. This study examines the apparel sectors of Pakistan, Mongolia and Sri Lanka and the processed fish sector of the Philippines. The importance of EPZs to exports under the GSP+ varies by country and sector. Only in Pakistan are EPZs legally exempt from rights relating to freedom of association and collective bargaining. But restrictions on these and other rights in practice remain widespread, and are not confined to EPZs. Efforts to promote labour rights through the GSP+ should focus on key export sectors benefitting from the scheme and consider EPZs alongside other sites of the supply chain where exploited workers are based.

Labour Rights in Export Processing Zones with a Focus on GSP+ Beneficiary Countries

Labour Rights in Export Processing Zones with a Focus on GSP+ Beneficiary Countries PDF Author: Benjamin Richardson
Publisher:
ISBN: 9789284612383
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 66

Get Book

Book Description
The European Union’s GSP+ scheme provides trade concessions to beneficiary countries and obliges them to ratify and effectively implement key international conventions on human rights and labour rights. The sectoral gains of GSP+ have thus far been concentrated on exports of apparel, textiles and processed fish. Such sectors are often located in Export Processing Zones (EPZs) where the governance of labour rights may differ from the rest of the country and fall below international legal standards. This study examines the apparel sectors of Pakistan, Mongolia and Sri Lanka and the processed fish sector of the Philippines. The importance of EPZs to exports under the GSP+ varies by country and sector. Only in Pakistan are EPZs legally exempt from rights relating to freedom of association and collective bargaining. But restrictions on these and other rights in practice remain widespread, and are not confined to EPZs. Efforts to promote labour rights through the GSP+ should focus on key export sectors benefitting from the scheme and consider EPZs alongside other sites of the supply chain where exploited workers are based.

The European Union and Human Rights

The European Union and Human Rights PDF Author: Jan Wouters
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 0198814194
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 729

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Book Description
EU commitment to human rights policies has grown following the Lisbon Treaty. Taking stock of those developments, this book describes the framework, actors, policies, and strategies of human rights across the EU and how their impact is felt. Contributed to by scholars from across the EU, this provides an in-depth and holistic view of the issues.

Special Economic Zones in Africa

Special Economic Zones in Africa PDF Author: Thomas Farole
Publisher: World Bank Publications
ISBN: 0821386395
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 328

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Book Description
"This book, designed for policymakers, academics and researchers, and SEZ program practitioners, provides the first systematic and comprehensive analysis of SEZ programs in Sub-Saharan Africa. It is the result of detailed surveys and case studies conducted during 2009 in ten developing countries, including six in Sub-Saharan Africa. The book provides quantitative evidence of the performance of SEZs, and of the factors which contribute to that performance, highlighting the critical importance not just of the SEZ itself but of the wider national investment climate in which it functions. It also provides a comprehensive guide to the key policy questions that confront governments establishing SEZ programs, including: if and when to launch an SEZ program, what form of SEZ is most appropriate, and how to go about implementing it. Among the most important findings from the study that is stressed in the book is the shift from traditional enclave models of zones to SEZs that are integrated ? with national trade and industrial strategies, with core trade and social infrastructure, with domestic suppliers, and with local labor markets.Although the book focuses primarily on the experience of Sub-Saharan Africa, its lessons will be applicable to developing countries around the world."

Trade, Employment and Labour Standards A Study of Core Workers' Rights and International Trade

Trade, Employment and Labour Standards A Study of Core Workers' Rights and International Trade PDF Author: OECD
Publisher: OECD Publishing
ISBN: 9264104887
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 248

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Book Description
Recent years have witnessed growing concern over the controversial issue of trade and labour standards. This study provides the first comprehensive analysis of these questions and reviews evidence for a large number of countries throughout the world.

Public-Private Partnerships for Sustainable Development

Public-Private Partnerships for Sustainable Development PDF Author: Axel Marx
Publisher: MDPI
ISBN: 3038978329
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 248

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Book Description
Voluntary sustainability standards (VSS) and other private governance instruments (e.g., Fair Trade, Forest Stewardship Council, Fair Wear Foundation, GLOBALGAP) are increasingly regulating global production processes and economic activities. VSS verify the compliance of products or production processes with sustainability standards. The importance of voluntary sustainability standards is now widely recognized. After being operational for more than two decades, they have established themselves as private governance instruments. This recognition is also exemplified by their integration in public regulatory approaches. Governments and international organizations are partnering with voluntary sustainability standards to pursue sustainable development policies. We witness the integration of VSS in the regulatory approaches of local and national governments in countries around the world, the integration of VSS in trade policies, the emergence of public–private initiatives to govern global supply chains, and the inclusion of private initiatives in experimentalist governance regimes. This Special Issue seeks to bring together research on the interface between private and public governance. We welcome contributions which analyze specific case studies on the emergence and development of these private–public interactions, the design of public–private governance, the effectiveness of these governance arrangements, and critical perspectives on the possibilities and limitations of such public–private forms of governance. We welcome multi-disciplinary perspectives including contributions from economics, political science, law, sociology, geography, and anthropology. Papers selected for this Special Issue are subject to a peer review procedure with the aim of rapid and wide dissemination of research results, developments, and applications.

The International Defense of Workers

The International Defense of Workers PDF Author: Kevin J. Middlebrook
Publisher: Columbia University Press
ISBN: 0231559887
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 586

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Book Description
International trade agreements have often been criticized for limited attention to the rights of workers. The North American Agreement on Labor Cooperation (NAALC), a side agreement to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), stands out for linking labor rights provisions to a U.S. trade agreement. Kevin J. Middlebrook provides a comprehensive and systematic examination of the NAALC, assessing its efficacy in protecting workers’ rights over the entire period it was in effect and demonstrating its broader significance for the role of trade and labor standards in U.S. foreign policy. Placing the NAALC in comparative context, Middlebrook considers various ways of promoting workers’ rights and how other U.S. international trade agreements have influenced labor rights abroad. He investigates the origins of the agreement; the political controversies among Canada, Mexico, and the United States over its scope; how the agreement operated in practice; and its longer-term policy legacies. Middlebrook emphasizes the tension between state sovereignty and the international promotion of labor rights in the negotiation and implementation of trade agreements, as well as how labor movements in one partner country can galvanize action in others. Drawing on interviews with high-level officials involved in the trade negotiations and previously unexamined primary sources, The International Defense of Workers is a groundbreaking analysis of the effects of U.S. trade agreements on labor rights.

Prospects for Democratic Reconciliation and Workers Rights in Bangladesh

Prospects for Democratic Reconciliation and Workers Rights in Bangladesh PDF Author: United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Foreign Relations
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Bangladesh
Languages : en
Pages : 104

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Book Description


Labor Standards in Export Assembly Operations in Mexico and the Caribbean

Labor Standards in Export Assembly Operations in Mexico and the Caribbean PDF Author: Gregory K. Schoepfle
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Employee rights
Languages : en
Pages : 38

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Book Description


Ensuring Quality to Gain Access to Global Markets

Ensuring Quality to Gain Access to Global Markets PDF Author: Martin Kellermann
Publisher: World Bank Publications
ISBN: 1464813728
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 275

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Book Description
In a modern world with rapidly growing international trade, countries compete less based on the availability of natural resources, geographical advantages, and lower labor costs and more on factors related to firms' ability to enter and compete in new markets. One such factor is the ability to demonstrate the quality and safety of goods and services expected by consumers and confirm compliance with international standards. To assure such compliance, a sound quality infrastructure (QI) ecosystem is essential. Jointly developed by the World Bank Group and the National Metrology Institute of Germany, this guide is designed to help development partners and governments analyze a country's quality infrastructure ecosystems and provide recommendations to design and implement reforms and enhance the capacity of their QI institutions.

Special Economic Zones

Special Economic Zones PDF Author: Thomas Farole
Publisher: World Bank Publications
ISBN: 0821387634
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 347

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Book Description
For countries as diverse as China and Mauritius, Special Economic Zones (SEZs) have been a powerful tool to attract foreign investment, promote export-oriented growth, and generate employment; for many others, the results have been less than encouraging. While the benefits and limitations of zones will no doubt continue to be debated, what is clear is that policymakers are increasingly attracted to them as an instrument of trade, investment, industrial, and spatial policy. Since the mid 1980s, the number of newly-established zones has grown rapidly in almost all regions, with dramatic growth in developing countries. In parallel with this growth and in the evolving context of global trade and investment, zones are also undergoing significant change in both their form and function, with traditional export processing zones (EPZs) increasingly giving way to larger and more flexible SEZ models. This new context will bring significant opportunities for developing countries to take advantage of SEZs, but will also raise new challenges to their successful design and implementation. This volume aims to contribute to a better understanding of the role and practice of SEZs in developing countries, in order to better equip policymakers in making effective decisions in planning and implementing SEZ programs. It covers some of the emerging issues and challenges in SEZs – including upgrading, regional integration, WTO compliance, innovation, the environment, and gender issues – with practical case examples from SEZ programs in developing countries.